Adjustable flexible belt-fastener



J. B. McGRORY.

ADJUSTABLE FLEXIBLE BELT EASTENER.

ZEI

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W/TNESSES APPLICATION FILED Dsc. I9, IsIg.

Patented Oct. 12, 19,20.

A TTOH/VEVS UNITI-:D ls'rarlezs*j ,PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES. B. lMeenonir, or Nonwron, CONNECTICUT. Y

ADJUSTABLE FLEXIBLE BELT-FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

i Patented oet. 12, 1920.

Application inea December 19, 1919. serial No. 346,151'.

To all w hom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES B. MoGrnonY, a citizen of the United States, andresident of the city of Norwich, in the county of New London andl State of Connecticut', have invented a new and Improvedy Adjustable able eyelets carried Aby the'links.

links will be .spaced forming aV plurality of rows alternately arranged to permit; a pin to pass transversely of the belt through suit- Itis understood that it 1s not new to provide a belt fastener construction comprising link members connected to the immediate ends of the belt `and having a pin associatedvthe'rewith which may be moved' lat- -erally of the belt through the connectors to connect the ends of the belt, so no. claim" is here broadly made thereto. In such constructions, the strains are concentrated at the immediate ends of the belt, and when the belt is shortened by cutting thcl ends, no means is left on the belt `which venables the ends of the belt to be immediately connected.

One of the objects of this invention isto providea belt fastener of simple'and compact construction and inexpensive to manufacture having its .parts so constructed and arranged that the `ends -of-a belt may readily be connected Va'ndfthe strain will be taken l'from the immediate endslof the belt yand distributed throughout a relativelyv wide area.

Still a further object-of this invention is to provide a belt fastener having its parts V so arranged and constructed that abelt may be shortened'by cutting oifa portion of the end, without at the same time requiring the removal of the entire lbelt fastener. This will enable the ends to be again immediately connected. 50

More specifically, aniobjectofthis invention is to provide a belt fastener comprising a' plurality of rows of spaced link members alternately arranged so that a portion of the links `of one row will lie between the spaced links of the adjacent rowV of links, a means being provided to secure the links to the belt,

severalI views.

*the

=such asa pin extends transverselyy anotherl means, such as a pin being provided to pass through and connect the alternately y' arranged links of adjacent rows whereby the vlinks are held in proper relative position,

and extend 'over a relatively wide area whereby the strains are uniformly distributed 4 Still a further objectl of Vthis invention is vto provide a belt fastener comprising a plurality of rows of spaced link members extending transversely of the belt, Valternate .rowsbeing offset so that the links extend Vwithin the spaces formed by links in an ladjacent row, a suitable means such as a pin, being provided to passA throughV the `overlapping link portions to hold the rows of alternately arranged links inproper relation. The various links are secured in any suitable manner to the belt. Such a construction, will permit a belt to be shortened by cutting av portion of the end together with a row of the'links, and the ends of the belt may again be connected by bringing the links remaining on the ends of Vthe belt 'into proper relation, and passing a transversely movable member through the alined and interfittinglink portions. A

With the abovey and other objects in view, ythe invention has relation to a certain arrangement and combination of parts an ex,-

ample of which is described in the followin specification pointed out in the append claims and illustrated in the .accompanying drawings in which similar characters of reference designate corresponding partaV inthe Figure 1 1s a plan view showing the application of the fastener to the ends'of abelt.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken onlth 'line 2-2 in Fig. 1J

Fig.4 3"is` a view showing the position of belt fastener .after a link has been removed from the belt.

' Referring more particularly tothedrawings, showing for example a practical embodinent of the invention, the fastener comprises a plurality of "rows of spaced link members alternately arranged so that the Ilinks of adjacent'rows overlap, extending into the spaccsformed bythe links in the next Vadjacent rows.V A lsuitable member of the 'belt and connects the overlapping portions yof the links in the adjacent alternately arranged rows. l fastening means is made up of a plurality Inthe f ormshown, the

.v of links 1 arranged in the manner above stated. Preferably,the links are made of a suitable stamped metal, but it is understood that any suitable material maybe used. In the form shown, eyeletsy or openings'Q-S are formed at each end of the link, the eyelets of the respective links being so arranged that when the links occupy the position vshown in Fig. l, a member such as a pin 4 may be moved transversely of the belt Ythrough the alined eyelets in the respective links. The links are secured to a belt 5, in any suitable manner, a rivet 6 and washer 7 preferably being provided. It is to be noted 'that the head of the rivet is at the under side of the belt, thus affording a construction 'in which no part of the link fastener proper contacts directly with the driving surface of vthe belt.'

` One of the advantages of providing a plurality of rows of spaced links l alternately arranged, and providing a means for con- Vnecting each link separately to thebelt, is that it vremoves the concentrated strains from' the end of the belt and distributes the strains uniformly over a large area. A further important feature in such a construction andarrangement, is that it permits the belt to be shortened,v by-taking out the desired length of the belt together with a cer- :tain ynumber of the links, but leaving at the remaining ends other rows of spaced links which maybe arranged in alternate relation and properly connected by passing a pin-4 through-the alined eyelets, thus forming in all substantial respects, a connection corresponding' to that -which existed before the r removal-of the end portions. A. particular Hadvantage lof such a construction, is'tha't it 40 vpermits of hasty repairs without having to stop for a considerable length of time to rearrange the links upon the" belt. It is to be understood that any suitable number of rows of spaced links may beiu'sed, and that the form of the individual links and the means of securing the same to the belt mayl be varied.

If'for example, it is desired to shorten the belt by removing a length corresponding to that indicated by the-bracket 8, the pins on the central row of spaced links Vwould be withdrawn. and the belt would be out upon t the dotted lines 9 removing the first row A of links, together with the central'row of links B. It is of course understood that the pin 10 would be withdrawn-topermitthe row A to be removed. In Vorder to again connect ythe ends of the belt. the ends would be brought together, and the remaining links would be brought into the position inf dicated in Fig. 3, inwhich figureit is to be noted that the first row of links C remaining on the belt would fit in the spaces between the first row of links D on the othery end of thebelt. A pin of suitable length would belt and todistribute the strains uniformly,

the said means .including a plurality of rowsof spaced'independent links alternately arranged, each of said links having eyelets thereon, and means passing through said eyelets connecting the spaced links in the Y alternately arranged rows.

2. A belt fastener comprising a plurality l of rows, of spaced links alternatelyY arranged, each of said links having Ieyelets thereon, the links of :one row are so arranged lthat an eyelet of the independent links of one row will occupy the space between the links of the adjacent alternate row and will register with the eyelet of said links, and

a pin adaptedto pass VAthrough said alined eyelets. Y .j

3. A belt fastener adaptedto connect the Vvendof the belt, the said fastener comprising a row of Vspaced independent links arranged adjacent the end ofthe belt, each i Y lof said links having Ieyelets spaced thereon, means for securing .said links to the belt, a 'secondr'owl of spaced independent linksV having ,eyeletsv and alternately arranged with respect to .said first named row, whereby the links of',y the second row fit between the spaced linksofthis first named row so that the eyelets `of thelinks will be in alinement, a means for securing the links of said second row tothe belt, and a vpin passing through said 'eyelets whereby they strain brought upon the connector is uniformly distributed.

" et.`V A belt fastener comprising a lplural-ity of rows of independent alternately arranged .spaced links, each ofsaid links havinga plurality of eyelets therein, and meanspassing-transversely of the .belt connecting' the Y adjacent alternately arranged rowsof links. 5. A belt fastenerl comprising a plurality of transverse rows of Vspaced independent* links arranged adjacent the ends of'a belt,

vother rowsfof independent links arranged transverselyV of `meeting ends-of the belt, the links of eachalternate row being staggered with respect to the links of. thenext adjacent row; a portion Vof each of the links 'of the alternate rows extending between the ,links of the first row, and a means passing through the links of the Vadjacent rows for holding the said links in proper relative position. l

6. A belt fastener comprising a pluralityof alternately arranged rows of independent links extending transversely of the meeting ends of a belt, means movable transversely of the belt through the links of adjacent 'rows to hold the same in proper relative for securing the links transversely of a belt, a portion of the links of adjacent rows overlapping to form alined eyelets, a pin passingtransversely of the belt through the alined eyelets, and a means connecting each of said links fixedly to the belt, whereby thebelt may be shortened by withdrawing a pin, cutting off theA desired length of belt together with a row of links, bringing the row remaining ends into kproper relation, and reinserting the pin transversely'of the belt.

8. A belt fastener comprising a plurality of independent links having transverse eyelets at their opposite ends, said links being secured in spaced relation to the meeting -respect to of links on the ends ofthe belt to constitute spaced rows j with the links in one row alternately arranged with respect to the links in the next adjacent row, the ends of the links of one row extending between the ends of the links ofthe next row to dispose the eyelets thereof in transverse alinement and means adapted to pass through the alined eyelets of adjacent rows for connecting the same.

9. A belt fastener comprising a plurality of members having transversely arranged eyelets in their opposite ends, means for securing the said members in transverse rows in spaced relation on the meeting ends of the belt, members of one row being disposed out of longitudinal alinement with cent rows, the ends of the members of one row lying between the ends of the members vof the next adjacent row with Vthe eyelets of the adjacent rows disposed in alinement and connecting means adapted to pass through said alined eyelets for hinging the rows together.

JAMES B. MCGRORY.

the members of the ends of adja- 

